I’m an ex-Gogglebox star and I’ve finally got off benefits – it’s all thanks to my new job at the funeral parlour
GOGGELBOX alumni Sandra Martin has told how she is finally off benefits after landing a unique new job three weeks ago.
She was one of the most loved characters on the Channel 4 show’s sofa before sensationally quitting in 2017.
Since then, she has suffered a spate of homelessness, losing six relatives to coronavirus and being back on benefits.
But a chance position at a friend’s funeral parlour means she now has a steady income and can help show “respect for the deceased”.
The 61-year-old accepted a position cleaning the parlour and is currently undertaking a course on confidence and communication.
Sandra, now living in Hastings, East Sussex, but previously from Brixton, south London, said: “I’m 61 and a grandmother. Three weeks ago I was on benefits and looking for work.
“Now, I’m going to be cleaning a funeral parlour after a friend opened one in Hastings.
“Tomorrow I’ve got a training course, it’s called ‘confidence and communication’.”
Sandra told how she was initially offered the receptionist position – hence the course – but felt happier initially accepting the cleaning job.
“I don’t want to do the reception work at the start,” she said “I think it will be too emotional.
“But at least for now I’m happy to keep the place clean out of respect for the deceased. I think it will be respectful.”
Sandra has been on and off benefits since leaving Gogglebox, except for a brief spell working at a Midlands’ train station.
She claimed she was too famous to work there because she would be stopped “constantly” for selfies but didn’t want to clean the loo. “Didn’t they know who I was?” she said.
Sandra made her debut in the very first series of Gogglebox back in March 2013.
She was known for her extravagant jewellery and big gold rings, and even set up her own business, Ringsandtings, in 2015.
Sandra told The Sun back in January 2021: “I was homeless and living out of a suitcase – and then had made the decision to move into an old people’s home.
“It was like I’d become old before my time, like I’d written myself off in life.
“Things are very different today.”